Facebook co-founder gives $20mn to Clinton, Democrats

WASHINGTON: Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz is committing $20 million to help Hillary Clinton and her Democratic Party in the upcoming US election.

Moskovitz, a Harvard roommate of Mark Zuckerberg who was part of the founding group of the social networking giant, said he and his wife Cari made the decision to pour in millions because “polarization in America today has yielded a race that is about much more than policies and ideas.”

The election “has become a referendum on who we want to be — as individuals, as a nation and as a society,” he wrote in a blog post on Medium.

Moskovitz said this was the first time he and his wife are endorsing a candidate and donating.

“The Republican Party, and Donald Trump in particular, is running on a zero-sum vision, stressing a false contest between their constituency and the rest of the world,” he wrote.

“We believe their positions, especially on immigration, which purport to improve the lives of Americans, would in practice hurt citizens and noncitizens alike.”

He added that he hopes his efforts “make it a little more likely that Secretary Clinton is able to pursue the agenda she’s outlined, and serve as a signal to the Republican Party that by running this kind of campaign — one built on fear and hostility – and supporting this kind of candidate, they compel people to act in response.”

The donations will go to various political action committees including the Hillary Victory Fund, Democratic congressional groups, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) Victory Fund, For Our Future PAC, MoveOn.org, Color Of Change and several nonpartisan voter registration efforts.